Eduardo Méndez (El Sistema): “It is an honor to play with Coldplay and send a message of peace and community”

Eduardo Méndez (El Sistema): “It is an honor to play with Coldplay and send a message of peace and community”

Raquel Laguna/ SUCOPRESS.

Interview with Eduardo Méndez, the Executive Director of the international music education program El Sistema.

The organization’s professional orchestra, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra & Choir, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, will be accompanying Coldplay during their 10 sold out nights at Wembley this August, and also performing August 28 at the Southbank Centre in London.

To commemorate El Sistema’s 50th Anniversary, Eduardo and his team brought together the organization’s leading ensembles for three weeks of unforgettable concerts across the country.

Select recordings of these performances were recently released including: The monumental Cantata Criolla by Antonio Estévez, considered by many to be Venezuela’s most iconic symphonic-choral composition.

Performed by young musicians from the Special Music Education Program, most of them visually impaired, Guaro Club blends tradition, rhythm, humor, and boundless talent.

Founded in Venezuela, El Sistema celebrates music and its ability to inspire by not only offering young people and impoverished children free music education, but a path to personal growth and opportunity.